The walk to the park wasn't as far as Bendy thought it would be. The park itself was part of an old abandoned schoolyard that the city kept up on the maintenance for since the property was still usable. The building had been torn down to make way for the new baseball diamond that stood a little ways from the jungle jims, swings, and other playsets for the local families to entertain their children with.
As the group approached, another group, which were sitting on the grass near the baseball diamond, noticed their arrival and came running toward them. A good group of kids, all in the ages between six and ten, came running toward the group.
Henry took the time, as they were bouncing around Denise, Alice, Boris, and David, to point out the children and their names to Bendy. The first one was Allison, or Alley by the rest, then there was Steve, Martin, Josh, Kelcey, her little brother James, Brandon, and Jessie. Henry introduced Bendy to the group once everyone was convinced that, yes, Alice and Boris could play today and no, they weren't going to disappear again.
"Okay, let's choose teams!" David shouted.
"Whose team captains?"
"Alice is one, Boris is the other!"
Henry sat in the grass with Bendy next to him as Boris stood on one side and Alice on the other, each taking turns picking a child from the group to be on their teams. Henry then explained to Bendy that once the teams were chosen, they would decide which team would kick first while the other team played the field.
"What's playin' the field?" the little demon asked, confused.
"The team that 'plays the field' covers the diamond and the bases, attempting to get three of the players from the kicking team out," Henry explained, "Once there are three outs, they switch places."
Bendy still looked a little confused but decided to watch, hoping that it would be explained soon.
Alice's team was kicking first, claiming that as a female and the lead captain, they should go first. Her team consisted of Denise, Ally, Kelcey, James, and Brandon. Boris' team, who were in the field, consisted of David, Steve, Martin, Josh, and Jessie.
Bendy watched as Boris stood on the pitcher's mound and rolled the ball toward Alice, who stood on home plate. She charged the ball, kicking it straight up into the air. Alice's teammates cheered as she ran, touching the bases as she went. The ball, itself, was being chased down Steve, who caught the ball on a bounce and tossed it toward Martin, who was waiting on the third based for Alice.
She came around, passing Martian before the ball landed in the boy's arms, sliding herself onto the home plate. Alice's team cheered while Henry clapped, calling out, "Good run, Alice!"
Denise was next. Since she was the youngest, only five years old, Boris' team went easy on her, letting her kick the ball gently and letting her get to first base.
Ally followed, kicking the ball straight up. Just as she headed toward the first base, David ran forward and caught the ball as it came straight down from where she kicked it.
"OUT!" Boris yelled. Bendy chuckled as Ally grumbled, getting back in line behind Brandon.
As the game continued onward, Bendy was able to make sense of the game and was suddenly interested in playing. Boris' team had made it up to kick for the second time that day. The wolf stood ready, waiting for Alice to throw her killer bowling ball forward.
The second the ball started coming, the wolf charged and kicked the ball hard. Alice's team ran for it, but Denise suddenly stopped, shouting, "Look out, Mr. Henry!"
Henry and Bendy looked up and saw the ball heading straight for them. Before they could move, the ball landed smack on Bendy, hitting the demon square in the face. Little stars appeared above the demon, circling his horned head, as everyone came over to make sure he was alright.
"Wow, Bendy," David chuckled, "I've never seen a catch like that before!"
"You alright, Bendy?"
"The ball didn't bruise ya?"
Bendy was suddenly stunned, and not by the sensation of being hit in the face by a rubber ball, either. Why were they all concerned about him? Most humans only worried about themselves, at least that's what he recalled Joey telling him. A hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Denise looking him over. He shook his head to clear the rest of the stars before nodding that, yes, he was okay. He watched as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the little cartoon demon was alright.
"Next time, hold your hands out like this," Ally demonstrated for the cartoon, "That way your protected from impact."
"Have you been hi in the face before?" the demon asked.
"We all have!" Jessie grinned, "I lost a tooth while playing kickball!"
Everyone started laughing and even Bendy had to chuckle at the encounters of the kids getting hit by a powerful rubber sphere. Henry leaned back and watched with Bendy as the others returned to the field, trying to figure out if Boris was out or safe. The man looked down at the cartoon before asking, "You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah!" The demon grinned at his creator, "I never knew that kickball could be fun, or that it could be mind-blowing!"
Cartoon and man laughed at the joke. There was something different about Bendy since his arrival. Henry turned and watched as the ball made its way in the air again, thinking, "Perhaps Bendy needed interaction with the kids. He is a cartoon after all, and he makes kids laugh."
The man looked down as the demon whistled and cheered for the teams, knowing that everything that had once been horrible was left behind.
Not far from the park, a man stood and watched the crowd of kids playing with the cartoons. Bendy was sitting next to the betrayer on the grass, smiling and laughing. The man growled low and turned to walk away.
Everything he had worked for, everything he had done to convince the little devil otherwise was coming apart by the same man that had destroyed his reputation and abandoned his work. Joey knew full well that if this kept up, Bendy would never return to the studio and Joey's haven of immortality would fall, leaving him to die.
As he vanished between the trees, he decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.
So, in case if anyone is wondering, I chose kickball because it seemed to be a more commonly played game and almost everyone is familiar with it. I am still working on character descriptions for the rest of the kids, hence why it is short, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to offer them.
